AVISTA CORP

Avista Corp. is a licensee under the Federal Power Act (FPA) as administered by the FERC, which includes regulation of hydroelectric generation resources. Excluding the Little Falls Hydroelectric Generating Project (Little Falls), our other seven hydroelectric plants are regulated by the FERC through two project licenses.

Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids are under one 45-year FERC license expiring in 2046. This license embodies a settlement agreement relating to project operations and resource protection and mitigation efforts over the license term.

Five of our six hydroelectric projects on the Spokane River (Long Lake, Nine Mile, Upper Falls, Monroe Street and Post Falls) are under one 50-year FERC license expiring in 2059 and are referred to collectively as the Spokane River Project. The license includes numerous natural and cultural resource protection measures that are subject to ongoing regulatory interpretation. The sixth, Little Falls, is operated under separate Congressional authority and is not licensed by the FERC. It is the subject of a 50-year agreement with the Spokane Tribe, expiring in 2044.

The FERC grants hydroelectric licenses, and relicenses, only after a multi-year process involving public hearings and input from multiple federal, state and local government agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, private landowners and other stakeholders. The FERC must find that the proposed project will be best adapted to a comprehensive plan for the waterway, taking into account the needs of power development, fish and wildlife, irrigation, flood control, water supply, recreation and other competing uses, and licenses (and relicenses) must be conditioned on appropriate protection, mitigation and enhancement measures.

Generally, upon the expiration of a license, (1) the FERC could grant a new licenses upon terms determined at that time, (2) the United States could take over the project, or the FERC could issue a new license to a new licensee, upon payment to the licensee of the lesser of the licensee's "net investment" in, or the "fair value" of, the project, plus severance damages, or (3) under the FERC's interpretation of the FPA, the FERC could order the decommissioning of the project. There is no assurance that any existing license will be renewed upon its expiration or, if renewed, that the renewal would be without significant modifications.